06/07/2016

5 Blogging Myths & Misconceptions!

Do you ever get the feeling that non-bloggers just don't really understand what it means to be a blogger? They presume that we have endless money, time and our lives are represented by our heavily edited Instagram themes. If you answered yesssss to that then you're in the right place as today I'm abandoning my usual beauty and fashion posts in place of unraveling some of the myths and misconceptions that ordinary people have about us bloggers! So sit back, grab a latte (remember to photograph it for insta first though) and enjoy!

*

1 - We Live In Marble Palaces Full of Peonies...

Umm no. As much as I wish my house was bight white and minimalistic full to the brim with pink peonies and white marble surfaces, it's just not. Unfortunately this is England: and when it's not gloomy and raining we don't have endless time to loll by the pool sipping cocktails and taking cute shots of our mason jar glasses, whilst simultaneously arranging an entire florist's shop of pink peonies. More than likely that 'white marble' is a free wallpaper sample from B&Q and those pretty white roses are fake and about two years old. Sorry to shatter the illusion for you.

2 - We're All 'Rich Bitches'...

No I don't drive a Mercedes and have entire wrist dedicated to my Cartier love bracelets, so let's not judge shall we? There's this common misconception that all bloggers are born rich and can therefore fund their terrible shopping habits. I would just like to put one thing straight: this is not the case one bit. My parents are 'well off' but trust me, if I even thought about asking them for a designer handbag they'd laugh themselves stupid. Unlike the stereotype, I've had a Saturday job since I was 16 working my butt off and have therefore paid for all my clothes, beauty products and blog equipment by myself. I've spent my entire gap year working in retail - which I hate - but if it means I can afford to buy the things I want, then so be it. Nothing makes me angrier than the stereotype that we're all born with a silver spoon in our mouths and are only blogging because we have nothing better to do than show off daddy's new Ferrari.

3 - "Oh you're a fashion blogger? You must be super vain."

Just because I pose in my garden, taking photos for my blog of my new ASOS purchases does not mean that I 100% love everything about the way I look. In fact, I can guarantee that if I take seventy five outfit photos only about ten will be deemed good enough because undoubtably I'll dislike something about the way I'm standing, the angle of my nose, or how big my thighs look.

To be a fashion blogger you have to have a certain level of camera-confidence or there's no way you'll even get in front of it - however the idea that we all sit in front of our MacBooks sipping our kale smoothies whilst smirking at how good we look, is just ludicrous. If I could, I'd change many things about the way I look from my teeth, to my nose, to my skin, to my boobs! Everyone has things they dislike about the way they look and just because we're constantly in front of a camera doesn't mean we're any different.

4 - Everyone Blogs Full Time...

Sorry pal, but no. Most of us don't have the luxury of being able to run our blogs full time from the aforementioned marble palace, instead juggling university, school or in my case (and many other's) a full time job. No it's not easy, yes the summer light does make a huge difference and yes we totally have the worst social lives going. But the thing is; when you're so obsessed and passionate about something, you're willing to put in the effort to get it done. You want to constantly improve, to make it better and even if that means spending your Sunday's on the couch with your laptop, then so be it.

So if you're wondering about starting a blog, yet panicking that you really don't have the time, trust me: it can be done, but it's up to yo to determine whether or not you have the motivation and drive to push yourself forward.

5 - Blogging Is Easy... Right?!

Oh darling, you don't know just how wrong you are! What might seem like an hour or so's work, shooting a few quick pics in your garden and then tapping out a hundred words or so on your laptop before hitting publish and raking in the views, is actually so much more than that. My blogging gals will tell you that it takes time to set up photographs, shoot the photos, decide you hate them, redo the shots, upload them onto your laptop, spend an hour or so editing them (up that exposure, am I right ladies?!) and only then, can you start the writing. Depending on your post this can take any amount of time from a couple of hours to an entire day, what with links to sort out, making sure your words flow and trying to think up some original ideas for a totally saturated market.

This is doubly as hard when you're trying to write multiple posts a day so you'll have something to schedule when you're at work because otherwise, page views slide and you fall off the face of the blogosphere. Because trust me, miss a few posts and people will have moved on to someone else.

So blogging is easy? Yeah, try it for a month and come back to me!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed today's post! Of course this was supposed to be lighthearted and I'm fully aware that most people understand just how much work goes into keeping a blog. Please leave your thoughts in the comments and tell me if you can relate to any of the points I said!

I absolutely loved this post,because it is so true! I only started blogging fairly recently and I can relate to this so much, especially when someone says blogging is easy, ugh I hate that haha! I love you blog Lily x

Literally am like, YES, YES GIRL, YES, AGREED, YES, to all of the above hahaha. I feel like when you explain what blogging is, people instantly jump to the conclusion its a peice of cake and is just 'taking pictures and writing' - they wouldn't last five minutes if thats what they think it really is!! ... However I do wish that I do end up in a marble house with fresh peonies in every room hahaha now thats the DREAM! xxx

This is too true omg. I love how much sass and wittiness you wove into all your points. It was so charming and made reading it even more enjoyable. You have a proper written voice coming through in this post. XOXO

Girlfriend, this post is too true!! Blogging photos are totally staged! Honestly, I'm too lazy to set up for my photos to make them look all artsy fartsy. Also, I feel like people assume you need an awesome camera to take amazing photos...uhh....All my photos are selfies taken with my iphone, HA. I ain't got no money to spend on a nikon!